Flotsam and Jetsam
by sleepyjo
Summary: Bella finds a mysterious girl washed up on the beach. It seems she isn't quite human and she takes her to the Cullens. As they discover who she is, the stranger has the power to enhance and destroy the lives they have built. Fairly in canon, pre BD.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all rights to these characters. I don't make any money out of them.**_

_**WARNING: This story will contain some details of rape, of a kind, or its aftermath. Please don't read if that will be a problem for you. I will mark any problem chapters. **_

_A/N: So, a little start. A slow one. Short and hopefully sweet. So far, it's very canon. Hope you enjoy!_

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**Flotsam and Jetsam**

The shingle slipped and crunched as they walked up First Beach. Jake negotiated the uncertain surface with far more grace than Bella could and she clung to his arm a little harder than she would have liked. She sighed, muttering,

'Everyone's a superhero.'

'That's me, baby,' Jake laughed, squeezing her closer to the welcome heat of his flank and ruffling her hair.

The recent storm had reorganised the shore, banking shingle and ripping away familiar landmarks. Their driftwood tree was still there, a sentinel in the misty distance, and they gravitated towards it. Bella struggled to make sense of the shape she was staring at, something pale lying half in, half out of the water. Jake was too busy playing to notice it, throwing one handed handstands against the bleached, weather-hardened trunk, shaking it with the force of his jumps, and laughing. She looked at him in mock disapproval, her childlike, elemental friend.

'Jake.'

He stopped and looked at her. 'What's that?'

He followed her pointing finger, sniffing the wind, and she could almost hear the clicking as his supervision zoomed in on whatever it was.

'Shit, Bells, that's a person!'

He was at the body before she'd slid from the trunk, and she waded through the shingle after him, falling to her knees on the other side of the body of a teenage girl, white-blue and still, lying face down on the beach just out of the water.

Bella reached around her neck and felt for a pulse, while Jake's huge hands pumped water from her lungs. He lowered his ear to her face, then tilted her head back and blew air into her lungs.

'Is she...?' Bella reached for the girl's cold hand and held it in both of hers.

'No, she's here.' He lifted her to a sitting position, leaning her back against him. 'She's breathing. I wonder what the story is?'

The girl was small and curvy, her skin was pale and her wet hair wound around her, clinging to her and reaching to the base of her spine. Jake and Bella looked at each other over her naked, unconscious body.

'Where did she come from?' Bella wondered. She reached for her cell phone, thumb hovering over the 9, when Jake stopped her.

'Hang on, Bella. I don't know if that's the right thing to do. She's a bit ... fishy.' He didn't elaborate, and his brow furrowed.

'Well, obviously something's weird, alright. But shouldn't we call the ambulance? Maybe Charlie...?'

Jake shook his head.

'No, that's not what I meant. She actually smells fishy. '

'She's obviously been in the water, and lying on the sand. It would make sense that...'

'No. Bella,' he interrupted. 'Listen. She doesn't smell human. She's like, I don't know. Different. And her heart's not beating very often. It's regular, but it's slow. Slower than yours, anyway.'

'If she's not human, what is she? And how did she get here? Did the storm wash her up?

As Bella looked down at her, the girl opened her eyes. Her pupils were dilated, but horseshoe shaped, until they shrank back to something rounder. She pushed away from Jake's arms and scrabbled backwards onto the beach, looking wildly between him and Bella. She looked down at herself, touching her arms, her hair, and then back at them. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. Her small pink tongue touched her lips briefly.

'It's ok, it's ok,' Jake spoke gently, his voice husky and low. 'She's scared,' Jake said. 'Her heart rate's speeding up. I wonder should we take her home?'

Bella frowned. 'Home to your house? Or to Carlisle?

The girl stood up and stretched, testing her limbs. She seemed utterly unaware of her nakedness. She frowned in concentration then deliberately turned a cartwheel in the soft sand, turning back to smile at them as they gaped at her.

'Ok, yeah. Let's take her to Carlisle,' Jake agreed, nodding slowly.


	2. Naia

**Naia**

They stopped at Jake's to get the beach-girl warm and clothed. Not one to enjoy unnecessary attention, Bella was reluctant to drive through Forks with a naked nymph in the back seat of the car. Jake had been surprisingly sanguine about the girl's nudity, but it occurred to Bella later that if anyone was accustomed to random awkward nakedness, it would have to be a werewolf.

Wearing one of Jake's flannel shirts like a dress, she had wandered around the house, looking at things; doorknobs, light switches, the fridge, and touching them as if she had never seen them before. She was calm, her heart rate back below normal, but she had yet to speak. Bella had tried asking her name while she helped her dress, rolling thick socks up her rounded calves, but while her mouth had worked, no words had come out.

In the car she had pushed and clawed at the window until Bella had reached across her and rolled it down. After inspecting the handle she had stretched her arm out into the air, and allowed her cupped hand to float on the currents, eyes closed and a smile playing on her lips. Bella watched her and for some reason was suddenly tempted to ask Jacob if he ever had to fight the urge to hang his head out the window when he was driving. She snorted, but suppressed her inner Emmett, and shook her head with a smile when she saw Jake's raised eyebrows in the mirror.

'Are we doing the right thing, Jake? What are the Cullens going to do with her?'

'Should be fine, Bella, as long as you brought the vat of Tartar sauce.' He chuckled to himself as she shook her head. When they pulled up to the house, Jake opened the door for her, and mindful of the gravel, held out his arms to carry her to the door. She shrank back into the seat, trembling a little so he knelt down and whispered to her for a minute. Bella watched as she slowly inched forward, and actually put her arms up to be lifted out of the car. It was hard not to remember how Jake had ... what? Calmed her, soothed her, lead her back to herself. She laid her hand on his broad back as they walked to the front door, quietly awed.

Inside, all the Cullens assembled, curiosity filling the room. Visitors were rare.

'Whatcha got there, Jakey?' Emmett's voice boomed out. 'Catch a rabbit out hunting?'

Jake grinned. 'I'm not sure what we caught,' he answered. 'We thought we'd see if anyone here knew.'

Carlisle and Edward came into the room, back from hunting together. Edward moved to stand with Bella, slipping an arm around her, and questioning her with his eyes.

'This is different.'

Bella began to explain what had happened.

'I don't know what she understands,' she finished, 'she looks like she wants to talk but doesn't know how. She's nervous, but sort of happy, too. 'She figured she didn't need to mention Jake's assessment of the girl's smell again – she didn't want to hurt her feelings, on the off-chance she understood. Nor did she want to give Emmett any extra ammunition; it was a bit early for fish jokes. If Jake could smell something different about her, they would too.

Esme and Alice descended on the girl, Alice already having whizzed to her room for an outfit for her. Deftly, she stripped off Jake's shirt and held it out to him between two fingers, a look of genteel disgust wrinkling her nose and mouth. Before Emmett's eyes could bug any wider, she had the girl slipped into dark blue silk that rippled and glided over her curves. The skirt of the dress fell past her knees, and she stroked the material happily.

Alice whipped out a hairbrush, and demonstrated brushing Esme's hair a few times, before moving gently behind the girl and stroking the soft brush through her tangled tresses.

'I can't see anything,' she complained, 'there's nothing, it's all blank.' She frowned in frustration and rubbed her forehead, shrugging. 'Nope. Nothing.'

'Edward, can you read anything?' Carlisle asked.

Edward went to the sofa, keeping hold of Bella's hand and sat down in front of their visitor.

'I'm Edward,' he said, smiling, and putting his hand on his chest as he spoke his name. 'Can you tell me your name?' His hand reached towards her. The girl opened her mouth as she had done with Bella, her throat working a little. She stared at him, her hand on her chest.

'Naia!' Edward exclaimed. He looked around. 'She told me. That was weird.' He looked at her again.

In response, the girl closed her eyes, smiling, a sleepy happiness spreading over her face. Edward's eyes widened in wonder.

'What's she thinking?' Jasper asked. 'She's feeling incredibly happy.' His face mirrored the relaxed satisfaction of the girl's expression.

Edward frowned. 'She's showing me pictures. Sunlight in the water, it looks like it's alive. Waves rolling. Rainbows meeting the sea. Flying. It's beautiful.'

Naia nodded excitedly and bounced a little in her seat.

'How did you get here, Naia?' Esme asked softly.

Naia looked at her blankly.

'She's thinking about waking up with Jake and Bella,' Edward said. He smiled. 'Bella, you're soft and pretty, and Jake,' he stifled a laugh, 'Jake is very large and hot.'

Jake's husky laugh burst out.

'You said it, Edward, not me.' Edward's smile faded a little at that.

Satisfied that Naia was comfortable, Carlisle stepped forward.

'Naia, I'm Carlisle. I'm doctor. I want to make sure you're ok?'

Naia looked at him with faint apprehension, but didn't shrink away. Carlisle looked her over, made notes on her pulse and eyes, and took her temperature. He smiled at her and sat back into his chair.

Everyone looked at him.

'Well, you know, I'd need to do scans. Full checks. There's so much I can't tell from here, and I don't want to pressure her. I don't know. I think Jake is right. Her pulse is slower, her temperature is lower. Her skin, it's... it feels different. She doesn't quite smell human, no. And her pupils aren't the right shape. You found her on First Beach?'

Jake and Bella nodded. Bella spoke up.

'Do you think someone dumped her there? Or did the storm wash her up? And if it was the storm...?'

Emmett laughed again.

'Ha, Jake, you caught yourself a mermaid!'

There was a distinct pause. Alice laughed happily and Rosalie snorted.

Bella hesitated, then asked, smiling,

'Okay, I'm sorry, I have to ask...' she turned to Carlisle, her eyes wide in apologetic appeal. 'Carlisle, are there mermaids?' Everyone joined in the laughter, though Edward looked speculative, thinking of the images of light and water Naia had shown him.

'I've never heard of them, Bella. But I can see why you'd ask. Vampires, werewolves... why not leprechauns and mermaids?'

Alice smiled.

'Mmm, mermen,' she said, sighing happily, then burst into giggles as Jasper tickled her.

'Mermen, is it? All that tail? Babe, I think you'd be disappointed by the Fish Sticks. You've got what you need right here.

Everyone laughed, while Esme shook her head. Bella smiled. She clearly wasn't the only one channelling Emmett today.

'What Jasper? You're saying the things Rosalie won't allow Emmett get out now? This could get better before it gets worse.' Jasper grinned playfully back at her, and grabbed Alice, whisking her out of the room.

'Sheesh,' Emmett said. 'Someone's playful today. So Carlisle. If she's not a mermaid, what's going on?

Carlisle stared at her speculatively, and looked at Jake.

'Jake,' he said, 'I think you might want to go ask Billy about this. It could be that he can tell you more than I can.'


	3. Chapter 3

Edward spirited Bella upstairs. He smiled as he relayed what he could hear of Esme's efforts to give Naia a meal, laughing at the faces she made as she gobbled or spat out Esme's experimental offerings. Bella thought of Charlie's freezer stocked with fish, and wondered if she had found a use for it after all.

'So, what do you think, Bella? What is she?' Edward took Bella's hand and started tracing her fingers, rubbing the muscles of her palm with his thumb. She began to relax into that place of blissful excitement Edward's touch always brought her to.

'Mmm. I like the mermaid theory. I'd like there to be mermaids. Can you make me a mermaid, Edward? Bring me to live in your secret garden 'neath the waves? '

Edward looked conflicted, torn between disapproval and laughter. He grinned.

'We need to go diving. I should book something... I'd like to see your hair all waving round you, underwater. And your breasts... floating... in their seaweed bikini.' His fingers wandered, stroking up her arm, sliding down the curve of her breast and up again. He'd been joking, but the idea clearly held appeal for him.

'I'd give up my tail for you, Edward. I'd give it all away, to get you to kiss me.' She gasped as he rolled on top of her, stole her breath. His lips were cold and gentle and insistent.

'I know, my love, I know,' he whispered against her ear. He pressed his forehead against hers as he ground his erection between her thighs, crushing her clit with its familiar chill, its hardness.

'I would too. You know I would too.'

He reached down, unsnapping her jeans and pulling them off, running his fingers under her panties and breathing in her own sea smell. He groaned, full of the desire to have her coming already, twisting her hands in his hair and calling his name.

Downstairs Naia cocked her head, listened thoughtfully, and her eyes shone with excitement.

Edward and Bella emerged some time later, attached, eyes soft. They sat on the sofa and Jasper flung himself dramatically on top of them, swooning into Edward's lap, with a Scarlett style,

'Oh, the romance!'

He wiggled happily, a cheesy grin on his face, while Edward cheerfully tried to push him onto the floor. Bella laughed, kicked Jasper smartly and rested her lips on Edward's neck, unrepentant.

'Jake went home for a bit, he said he'd come back and pick you up later, when Billy got in,' Alice said. 'Why don't we go outside?'

They walked towards the river, its dull colour reflecting the overcast day. Edward picked Bella up and leapt the wide span of it effortlessly. For Bella, it felt like flight. Emmet held out his hand to Naia, but she looked at him blankly, then down at the water. She knelt on the bank and trailed her fingers into the river, and then stood, poised, looking down. In a second, she flicked her arms out and leapt, seeming to be suspended in the air momentarily, and then she dived, disappearing into the water without a splash. A ring widened in the place where she had entered the water, and began to boil and bubble furiously. The family stood there, Bella and Edward on the far bank, the other two couples on the near one, goggling at the roiling water.

A body exploded out of it, leaping in the air – shiny and muscular, a dolphin flashed up in the air, flipped, and landed back on the surface again, sending a wave of water splashing onto the bank where Jasper and Alice, Emmett and Rosalie stood. It stood straight on its tail in the water, mouth open and head nodding in what looked like a laugh.

Only Rosalie sidestepped the water. The other three allowed themselves to be splashed as they stood in shock. After a moment, Emmett's loud amused laugh rang out, joined by Alice's bell like peal, sounding genuine delight at being taken by surprise for once. Jasper's laugh joined theirs, affected by the feelings flowing from the creature in the river. The animal disappeared again, and in a few seconds, Naia was climbing the bank, naked again, coming to stand in front of Bella.

'Dolphin!' she announced happily.

And they all laughed again.

Alice found the blue silk dress some way downstream, snagged on a branch. She returned to the group, tisking.

'Naia, I think you need a shower, and new clothes.'

Emmett nodded. 'Yeah, Fish Girl, you're soaked.'

'I'm not the only one, Bare-Boy,' she laughed back up at him, flipping forward over the grass, cartwheeling, gymnast style. Emmett shook his head.

'Bear Boy? How does she ...?' Edward shrugged.

'I think she picks things up. I can see her pictures. Flashes of images, feelings, from other people. I don't think it's the same as I do, but there's something there.'

'And what's with the talking all of a sudden?' Rosalie asked. Again, Edward shrugged.

'I think she's a quick study. I suppose her human body is just ... equipped.'

'Tell me about it,' said Emmett, 'naked gymnastics never looked so appealing.' He didn't duck away from Rosalie's slap, just snaked an arm round her and cuddled her to him. 'I know I deserved that, baby. Maybe we can get you doing some naked backflips for me?' Rosalie did something subtle but complicated that spun Emmett up in the air, landing him on his back with a thud. When the others looked back, she had already straddled him on the ground, so they left the couple to it and went back inside.

Alice and Esme washed and dressed Naia, leaving Bella and Edward to talk to Carlisle. He confirmed that he'd suspected something like that, but said that Billy Black was the man who would be able to really explain.

'All I've got to offer is conjecture,' he said. I have no idea what might have made her leave the sea in the first place? Maybe it was just survival instinct after the storm washed her up?'

'I wonder why we've never seen it before,' Edward mused. 'Is it a response to danger, like the wolves responded to us? But what possible enemy could Naia fight on the dolphins' behalf, in human form? It doesn't make sense.'

Yeah,' Bella sighed, 'mermaids made more sense.'

Jake, Bella, Edward and Jasper brought Naia to see Billy. Edward had requested permission to come to La Push and Jake had shrugged and said he'd check. He came back a while later looking somewhat tousled, but said that it was fine. Bella wondered how hard he'd had to convince the others it was alright. But she figured, if Jake was welcome in Edward's house, it should work both ways.

Billy looked puzzled when they trooped into his house, which suddenly looked a lot smaller when they crammed into the little sitting room. He nodded carefully at Edward and Jasper but didn't acknowledge their presence much beyond that, and they in turn remained polite and his manner deferential throughout the visit. Since they had begun fighting together, the young wolves and the vampires had fallen into an easy rivalry that was coming close to friendship, but Billy had me difficulty accepting the concept.

'So who's this?' Billy asked Naia, as soon as they all sat down, and Jake had fetched drinks.

'Dolphin!' she proclaimed proudly.

'Yes, she's a dolphin,' Bella nodded. 'We found her unconscious on the beach this morning.'

'She's not a dolphin,' Billy said, confusion stamped on his face. Jake shrugged.

'I'm a wolf.'

They all looked at him, huge in the scruffy but homely surroundings of his house, and then back to Naia, sitting sweet and petite between Bella and Edward. Billy studied her as Jake started to tell him the story of how they found her, and Bella finished it by describing her dive into the river and subsequent transformation.

Billy listened intently, his black eyes fixed on Naia.

'It's not the same as the wolves,' he said, when they had finished. I know about the wolves because they concern my family, and the lore has been handed down. I do know the stories, from other tribes, about the Orca whale who carries people back to the sea in the form of a human male, seduces them. Or the Boto in South America, who tempts young girls at the river bank and impregnates them. There is an Australian story about the souls of dolphins becoming people, and other dolphins transforming to join them. I have heard tales of the Sea People coming ashore before, but I never imagined it was true.'

Jake looked at him sceptically, an eyebrow raised.

'I know, I know,' Billy smiled. 'Hypocritical, maybe. But the shape shifting, it's their mythology, not ours, I suppose? She's a were-human, not a were-dolphin, if you want to put it that way. '

He turned to Naia. 'Do you know why you came here, Naia? Is there a reason for it?'

She looked at him levelly and deliberately shrugged her shoulders. Human body language was hard to learn, as her body was so different now. And her mobile face was difficult to work with. All the muscles, the motion. The nuanced expressions. Breathing was easier though.

'Breathing,' she offered, 'it's easy now. I don't have to think about it. In the sea, we breathe on purpose.' As if being reminded, Edward heaved a loud breath, and Billy looked at him somewhat sharply.

'But coming ashore, Naia, do you remember why you came? Were you sent?' She shook her head.

'I don't know. I don't remember.'

Edward nodded.

'It's true. There don't seem to be any memories right there. Just waking up to Jake and Bella. It feels like she'd been stressed though. But that could just be the confusion of waking on the beach. And having Jake squeeze the water out of her.'

'Maybe she'll remember more if she goes back,' Billy offered, 'I wonder if her pod is still around somewhere?'

Bella looked at Naia.

'Do you want to go back to the sea, Naia? Will we help you find your family?

Naia's face took on the smoothness it did when she had no answer to give.

'I don't know.'

Jasper looked at her. Looking at Edward, he wondered if she was hiding something. _Because a whole world of unease has just settled over her. _

Edward frowned. He listened to Naia again, as Billy asked her further questions about her familiarity with the area, but she seemed to be answering honestly. At least there was nothing there he could pick up on. Abruptly, she turned and locked eyes with him, saying nothing but holding his gaze. And he suddenly felt the ghost of a blush in his cheeks and backed hurriedly out of her mind. Jasper raised his eyebrows at Edward, but he minutely shook his head in response.

The conversation turned to the idea of borrowing a boat, of taking Naia back out to look for her family. And each time Jasper noted with interest the cloud that settled around her, something that began to feel very like fear.

Naia didn't want to go back into the sea.


	4. A Promise

Apologies to those who were waiting for the looong wait. And it's no epic reward either, I'm afraid. Next chapter should follow sooner, though I do want to go to the library first...

Thanks to and Mrs. Moth for reading and saying nice things! The Missusses...

In my fanfic life, Hunterhunting's Tattward and Inkella DID IT! Woo!

So did 's poor E and B.

AND E and B finally napped together in The Woods are Lovely Dark and Deep, and Bananapancakes has the best author experience detailed in her A/N.

I read theladyingrey42's Vanilla and Chrome story and felt moved to never write anything again. Too good!

I am loving Emancipation Proclamation. Loving it.

**Disclaimer: All characters resolutely belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

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It was Saturday, and the sun was filtering through the early morning, no obstacle today. Leaving Naia to frolic with Jake in the sunshine, they left for the meadow. Bella's arms sealed around Edward's shoulders as they he ran, biting small kisses up and down the back of his neck, lips brushing the soft hairs there.

Bella sat in the long grass, looking at sections of Edward's skin in small increments. Fingers. The shift and play of the light as he absently pressed chords into the grass. The small movements of his wrists. The exquisite perfection of the hollows above his collar bones. Like fine china receptacles for nectar, she thought, as words filtered past her. Clavicle. Arpeggio. Clavichord? Distractions from the beauty that she sometimes found painful to look at.

She realised Edward was watching her as she looked at him. She could meet his eyes easily, but his silent question was more difficult.

'Bella?'

She scratched again at an insect bite on her arm, hissing at the itch. Edward gently reached out and pressed his fingertip to the angry red bump.

'Thank you.' She pulled her arm back, and ran her finger over the chilled place. She stood up with an angry sigh and walked away a little. Edward didn't say her name again but she could feel his eyes on her. Bella tensed, resenting the frustrating inevitability of the conversation that was coming, and tried to tamp down the anger, the hurt and the impotence she felt.

She looked over. Edward had become unnaturally still, his eyes were fixed on her, and cautious. She read in his forced immobility his need to touch her, to reassure and fix.

She sat again, defeated before she'd started.

'Edward? What do I feel about your refusal to change me?'

He looked at her, quizzical at her phrasing of the question.

'You feel...'

'No, Edward, tell me, in my words, be me for a minute.'

He closed his eyes for a second.

'I feel frustrated. I am afraid of ageing, of losing my beauty. I want the strength and grace I see in the vampires. I want to feel equal with you. I feel tired of being protected, I think I am putting my friends at risk, and I don't understand their commitment to me. I don't see myself... as who I really am,' his mouth curled up at one corner, 'And it's hard to value mortality when you're eighteen, and there is no life after thirty.'

Bella hugged her knees, and rested her head on them, rolling it from side to side. How to reject condescension from a centenarian?

'What is so idyllic about this body that swells, and bleeds and ages? You talk about loving me unchangingly throughout my lifetime. Well, what if I get hit by a van tomorrow and you're not there to be my superhero? Would you watch me rot with cancer, praising my beauty and bravery the while?

'I want to be with you. Really _be_. Not be babysat, and handled like porcelain. Yes, I want some equality. Yes, it is sometimes baffling that you are so much more than me. _Your_ vision of humanity seems idealised and romanticised to me. Where would the beauty be in me bleeding to death in the street, with crushed bones and burst organs? Humanity is an itchy, gooey, breeding mess, and you know better than I do the frailty and ugliness of people's minds.'

She scratched distractedly again at the swelling bump on her arm, the blood that rose to the surface underlining her point.

She touched his face.

'I know, what you love in me,' she whispered. 'The beat of my heart, the comfort of my sleeping, my dreams. I know I am soft, and warm, and pure for you. But it's not my humanness that has saved you. It's _us_.'

He ducked his head, unable to form a rejoinder. There was no way to counter that assertion, was there? And he was grateful, so grateful. He gave her eyes, and nodded.

'Edward, can I ask you...' she hesitated, uncertain as to how he'd take it. 'Were you... would you say you were depressive, at all, when you were alive?'

She looked at him cautiously from under her hair, afraid that he would take offense. He looked at the sky for a minute before answering.

'You know I don't really remember much. I can't answer that honestly. I... I know I am given to... well, to pessimism. And to dark moods. I suppose it's safe enough to assume I was similarly inclined as a human.' He stroked her fingers, letting her know it was alright to ask, letting her go on.

'Why is it you're asking me that?'

She bit her lip, and reached to touch his hair off his forehead, gently.

'You think I don't see myself accurately? My angelic, introspective, cautious, restrained, caring man? Your hatred of the monster you see yourself as, your persistent denial of love, your willingness to endure loneliness and heartbreak in order to save my soul, because you cannot see how your own soul shines? You see a dark version of your reality, Edward, one that doesn't seem to be wholly necessary. You say you're protecting my soul from the blackness, but you write off yourself and your family by doing that. '

The sun slipped behind a cloud, dimming the shine of his skin. She returned her hands to her lap.

'Sure, I saw James and Victoria, and their wild, feral murderousness. I know you have killed. But I see more soul in your family than I do in many of the people around me. Perhaps vampire nature is even easier to understand than human cruelty or bloodlust. You Cullens shape your own urges into something constructive and good. What about Carlisle's centuries of selfless care? Have you taken more lives than he has saved? What of Esme's love and care? Emmett's embracing of live, his sweetness? Alice is like a vessel for joy and energy, and Jasper, with his deep understanding of how people work, and his beauty and dignity and love. The love they have together, it's a genuine creation of something new and beautiful, you can't deny that.

'They all embrace and enhance their vampiric nature and live it with strength and joy. They add to the world, you can't deny it.

'I can no longer imagine my life without you all. You are my home. But I'm locked out.' Her voice dropped to a rough whisper. 'Because of your warped perspective. You're denying yourself a partner because of your skewed view of yourself. '

Her hands tensed on the blade of grass she'd been running through her fingers.

'You left me alone because of it.' She swallowed, trying to master the pain that swelled her throat and made her voice dry up.

'My guess is you might have done the same in your human life.'

The sun came out again. Without looking up, she could feel his stillness. She hated that, the way he froze inside himself instead of having an emotional reaction. Then she felt his finger and thumb stroking up her neck, lifting her chin. Her eyes slid to meet his golden, sunlit ones, felt the slide into bliss they held for her.

'Isabella. You think my reluctance to change you is a rejection of _us_?' He was incredulous.

'You think it _isn't_? How can it not be, Edward?' Bella wished there was some way to underline her question that would make a mark on him, a physical impression. But there was no point slapping him or pulling his hair, or gripping his arm. She considered punching it to emphasise her point, but she knew from experience it would just hurt her.

'Bella. 'He fell to his knees with his usual unconscious grace. 'Bella, you don't understand. You don't see the depths of my selfish fantasies. I try not to let myself think about having you forever, it's too much to ask of you. To huge a sacrifice. And the risk... it scares me beyond belief. Can we... can we just wait a while?'

His eyes looked up at her, huge and dark, the plea in them painful and clear. She nodded, helpless, and he pressed his face into her stomach, allowing his weight to rest on her for a fleeting moment. She stroked his hair, bending to kiss it. Her chest hollowed and twisted, with love and longing and frustration. She felt the seconds ticking by, in much the same way he measured time with the beat of her heart that he was always aware of.

But suddenly, he was standing, the pain wiped from his eyes, which were now sparkling with the laughing mischief she loved to see there, though it appeared so seldom.

'You left out Rosalie,' he accused, laughter in his voice, 'in your list of Cullen attributes.' She smiled and shook her head.

'I suspect Rosalie might fall into your camp, Edward. But the mere fact that she uses her powers for good rather than evil is a credit to her heroic self control. You know Rosalie would just make the ultimate kick ass Bad Vampire.'

His laugh rang out around the meadow.

'I'd make a good Bad Vampire too, don't you think?' And without any warning other than his sudden exuberance, he picked her up, so fast she couldn't keep up with his movements. The next thing she knew, she felt a force like an aeroplane taking off, and she was flying, air rushing past her as she sped towards a huge tree at the far end of the meadow. Before she could do more than cringe away from the impact, she was no longer flying. The air was still again, and cold hands plucked her from her flight without jarring her. She floated to the ground in his arms, as they landed smoothly out of the running jump he'd made to catch her.

Bella breathed in gasps as the adrenaline seared through her system. She rubbed her chest, to relieve some pressure from her pounding heart. Unapologetic, bad vampire Edward wiggled his eyebrows at her.

'Nope, sorry,' she shook her head. 'La Nausee would catch up with you too fast, you'd implode with the horror of your situation.'

'Um. Yes.' Edward looked embarrassed, and Bella considered that her quip might have been a little too close to the bone.

'My existentialist vampire boyfriend,' she sighed.

'_You're_ the existentialist,' he teased.

'No, you are.' She giggled. 'What was with the throwing of your human girlfriend across the meadow? I could have wet myself.'

He shrugged, sheepish, but naughtily pleased with himself nonetheless.

'You want the unrestrained vampire experience, I'm just aiming to please. Or discourage...' he smiled.

Half smiling, she glanced up at him.

'As if I could fight you off,' she whispered under her breath. He would have blushed if he could have, embarrassed by his former dramatics, yet admittedly stirred by the memory of their coming together, and her layered innuendo. He closed his eyes and saw her running through the trees, head whipping to and fro to search for him. He could catch her so easily, spin her and pin her against a tree, hear the pounding of her heart, his prey...

He groaned, laughing but hard, and lowered her to the grass, pinning her wrists down and lightly pressing his weight against her. She turned her head, and he ran his lips along the vein in her neck that called to him.

'So, would Rosalie have an outfit?' he asked, teasing her ear.

'Of course,' she answered weakly. 'Nothing but black silk and leather. And red, red lipstick.'

His unguarded laugh filled her. It lit her like birthday candles' glow. She closed her eyes against the cold delight his tongue was spreading, against the light of his face as it shone with laughter.

'I don't get to hear that laugh enough, Edward. I need to hear it ring out more often.'

He nodded against her breasts, nudging sideways, pushing back her shirt, and whispering into her nipples as he kissed them, 'I promise. I promise.'


End file.
